Lewis Hamilton’s test crash just a ‘blip’

Lewis Hamilton is itching to climb back into his Mercedes following a debut accident he has described as nothing more than “a blip”.

Less than two hours and 15 laps into the pre-season test session at the Circuit de Jerez, Hamilton’s car suffered a rear-brake failure, later traced to the hydraulic brake line connecting to the right-rear calliper.

At the end of a long straight with a top speed of 200mph it resulted in the 28-year-old hitting his brakes whilst travelling at 160mph at the turn-six hairpin known as ‘Dry Sack’.

Hamilton ploughed through a wide expanse of gravel, and after travelling 70 metres, eventually hitting a tyre barrier at 35mph.

It was certainly not the first day on track of his three years with the team Hamilton had envisaged.

Asked whether he could glean any positives from the experience, he smiled and replied: “Definitely, I’m alive!”

Hamilton then added: “This is what testing is all about. What’s happened is disappointing for all of us in the team.

“But hopefully this is just a blip. We have a long way to go until Melbourne, with more days of testing and hopefully they will all go smoothly.”